Shivamogga district

Karnataka State Cricket Association: Legendary India batter Gundappa Viswanath, known for his elegant wristwork, turns 75 on Monday. Born on February 12, 1942 in Bhadravathi, an industrial city in the Shivamogga District of Karnataka, Viswanath rose to become one of the finest batters to play for the country.

He came into national reckoning with a double century on his first-class debut for Mysore (the then-name of Karnataka team) against Andhra at Vijayawada in 1967-68. Viswanath scored 137 in the second innings of his Test debut, after being out for a duck in the first inning, against Australia at Kanpur in 1969.

He went on to feature in 91 Test matches, scoring 6,080 runs at an average of 41.93, including 14 centuries and 35 fifties. An astonishing fact is that none of his Test centuries came in an Indian defeat.